2010 MLBA ANNUAL MEMBER MEETING: Tuesday, April 13, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

All Minnesota Lavender Bar Association (MLBA) members, guests, and law students are cordially invited to attend the 2010 MLBA Annual Member Meeting on Tuesday, April 13. MLBA has reserved a private space at Amore Victoria Ristorante, located at 1601 W. Lake St. in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood. The business meeting will take place from 6:30-7:15; afterward, social time and dinner from 7:15-8:30.

Agenda
As part of the annual meeting we will hear from Leo Brisbois, President, Minnesota State Bar Association, regarding MSBA’s support of House File 224 (Rep. Steve Simon) and Senate File 70 (Sen. Ann Rest). If passed, this bill would put a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in November 2010 for Minnesotans to decide whether to amend the Minnesota State Constitution to change our current system of contested judicial elections to one of retention elections (see background information below).

We will also review MLBA’s activities over the past year and elect new board members. If you have an additional agenda item you would like discussed at the member meeting, please notify Jenny Ryan at jennyryan@gmail.com.

Background information:

* Bill language: https://www.revisor.mn.gov/revisor/pages/

* MSBA’s white paper: http://mnbar.org/impartialjustice/WhitePaper.pdf

* Leo I. Brisbois, “Judicial Elections Are Not Necessarily a More Effective Way than Merit Selection for Attorneys of Color to Reach to Attain a Seat on the Bench—At Least Not in Minnesota to Date,” (2009).

RSVP
Please help us plan for dinner by sending an email to events@mnlavbar.org. Not a member? Join today by visiting http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/102071. Annual dues are $75 (for annual income over $50,000), $35 (for annual income under $50,000), and $15 (law students).

SAVE THE DATE!
University of Minnesota Journal of Law and Inequality 2010 Symposium, Family Values: Law and the Modern American Family, April 9, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Approximately 5-6 CLE credits anticipated in addition to eliminate bias credits. For more information, please see: http://www.law.umn.edu/lawineq/symposium2010.html

Transgender Law CLE: Helping attorneys to better serve Transgender Clients, Wednesday, April 28th 7:00-8:00 p.m. at Hamline University Law School. Refreshments will be provided. Elimination of bias CLE credits available. Look for for additional information regarding this event in our next newsletter.

CLE CREDITS APPROVED
The 9th Annual MLBA Conference held January 30, 2010 received the following approval for CLE credits: 4.0 Standard and 1.5 Elimination of Bias. Event code: 141594.

“The Naked I: Legal Issues Confronting Transgender People in the Minnesota Legal Profession” held March 19, 2010 also received approval for 1 elimination of bias credit. Event code: 140772.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES

MSBA Accepting Nominations for Secretary Candidates
Pursuant to MSBA Bylaws §9.3, the Elections/Appointments Committee of the Assembly will nominate a candidate for MSBA Secretary on Friday, May 21, 2010.  As required by Bylaw 9.3.4, the Committee “shall consider the need to provide for gender, racial, and other forms of diversity in the leadership of the MSBA when electing the officer at-large.”

All applications for this position should be submitted to the Chair of the Committee in care of Joni Fenner, Assistant to the Executive Director, Minnesota State Bar Association, 600 Nicollet Mall, Suite 380, Minneapolis, MN 55402; 612/333-1183; email jfenner@mnbar.org. Deadline for submission is Friday, May 7, 2010.

Williams Institute Small Grants Program Applications due by April 15, 2010!
The Williams Institute’s Small Research Grants Program is designed to encourage new empirical research focused on the LGBT population. Applicants from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds, including social sciences like economics, sociology, demography, social psychology, law, and public policy are encouraged to apply. This initiative is designed to foster sound empirical analyses focused on the LGBT population; and to develop a better understanding of the need for and impact of public policies that affect the LGBT population. Advanced-level graduate students are strongly encouraged to apply. Similarly, more senior scholars interested in expanding their research agenda to include LGBT-related issues are welcome.

For more information, visit: http://www.law.ucla.edu/WilliamsInstitute/SmallGrantsProgram_2010.html